


Wine Red

by Thirrin



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Cynical Sakura, Demons and Magic, F/M, Gen, Lotta cursed things, Modern Magic (magic is known), Multi, MultiSaku - Freeform, Other characters to be added as they appear, Sakuracentric, Some eventual violence, Supernatural Creatures, Urban Fantasy, Witchcraft, Witches & Familiars, eventual poly - Freeform, soul bonds
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:22:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25018459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thirrin/pseuds/Thirrin
Summary: You'd think she'd be pretty good at avoiding curses by now. An annoying cat, a pesky demon, and too much mystery for Sakura's liking.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura & Inuzuka Kiba, Haruno Sakura/Sai, Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Madara, Sai/Sakura Haruno/Uchiha Madara
Comments: 10
Kudos: 98
Collections: Naruto Fantasy Week 2020





	1. Chapter 1

Her workspace is littered with scorched dried herbs, broken crystals, and a few dozen thin, silver chains, the links broken in multiple places and rendering them useless. This brooch is proving to be a difficult endeavor and Sakura's about ready to lock it up and move onto something else for now, irritation evident on her face and her hair already pulled back in a ponytail.

Perched on her stool, she holds the dried Angelica root over the flickering flame of one of the candles sitting on the tabletop – black this time, as the white hadn't worked as well as she'd been hoping – until it catches fire. She lets the flame grow for only a few seconds before blowing it out and quickly drawing a circle around the little jewelry box, leaving a trail of ashes behind. The cinnamon and caraway – neither seed nor root, to her frustration – hadn't worked against the brooch and it'd easily broken through the barrier when the chain snapped, giving her only a few moments to secure it away again.

From the past three attempts, she knows that the Angelica will keep it contained for a much longer period of time. Typically, a chain and a weight are all she really needs to hold an artifact at bay until she's got the next step ready, but this brooch is particularly feisty.

It's a cameo brooch and one of the prettiest she's seen in a while – lined with small rubies and diamonds around the ivory and a flower design blooming towards the bottom, speckled with more tiny gemstones. The metal, darkened with age and neglect, swirls out in soft bridges around the top half of the cameo, creating sweeping arches for more rubies to trail along. She'd dated it at early Edwardian era, fairly young compared to some of the other items in her collection, but with an angry, nasty curse surrounding it.

It had taken Sakura a few days to pick through the layers around the brooch until she'd finally discovered its origins, a sour taste in her mouth at the realization of how many hands it'd passed through.

Its original owner was a young woman, fairly beautiful if the memories weren't lying to her, who'd been gifted the brooch by a former suitor as a wedding gift. The scorned lover had cursed the brooch to ultimately force the bride to murder her new husband so that he could have her hand instead. But, after a little more picking around until she finally got to the very beginning, she'd learned that the witch the suitor had gone to had laid a secondary curse over the brooch – a little insurance in case he happened to stiff her with his payment.

And, judging by the scene of the bride murdering the suitor as well on the night of their honeymoon, it looked like the second layer of the curse had been activated.

The bride had killed herself shortly after and the brooch had been passed between several more couples, all ending in bloodshed, before it had finally ended up in Sakura's hands.

Now, with the brooch tethered to her petrified wood weight by another silver chain and the circle barrier drawn, Sakura looks through her obsidian seeing stone to double-check its status. To the untrained eye, the brooch appears to be sitting peacefully in its little velvet box - a simple piece of jewelry. But, through the obsidian, Sakura can see the waves of bloodlust and rage radiating off of it, blood splatters staining the otherwise calm face of the cameo portrait as it waits.

She looks over the crystals she'd picked and laid out beside her and the brief moment is all it takes for the brooch to come to life. The cameo's eyes snap open and the brooch is immediately in the air, flying towards her with the ivory woman practically crawling out of her frame as she reaches out to Sakura.

The chain catches and, like a rabid dog on a leash, the brooch quickly halts, the silver taunt as the cameo still reaches out with clawed, angry hands. Sakura, unperturbed, reaches for both of the elbaite shards before settling on the pinker of the two. The opaque, pastel pink crystal has been whittled and carved down until it's now barely more than a needle, exceptionally sharp on both ends.

Holding the shard carefully between her gloved fingers, she pulls the large shell to her left closer – the colors of the Mother of Pearl shimmering through the water it holds - and slowly dips one end in, muttering her incantation under her breath. The elbaite glows bright white for a few moments and Sakura patiently waits for the light to dissipate completely before she removes it from the water and turns her attention back to the brooch.

The silver chain is still holding true and the brooch is still fighting against it, but Sakura's down to the last step and feeling confident. She reaches past the Angelica ash circle, a brief shimmer of gold appearing around her hand, and snatches the brooch, careful of the needle-sharp pin on the back. It's almost gotten her blood twice now, even with her gloves on, and she has no desire to combat a pissed off piece of jewelry for possession of her body.

It _wants_ to pierce her skin just over her sternum or the center of her throat – as it had with its past victims – but a finger is more than enough to give it a chance to possess her.

Blowing a stray strand of hair out of her eyes, Sakura carefully lines the elbaite shard up with the heart of the cameo portrait, the ivory woman silently screaming angrily at her. With her fingers already starting to numb, she makes to stab the crystal into its heart but meets resistance, her eyebrows furrowing as the ivory battles against the elbaite before the latter suddenly shatters in her fingers.

Sakura lets out a frustrated sound and slams the brooch back into its box, slapping the lid shut and dropping the petrified wood on top.

And, with another failed attempt under her belt, she readies her tools for another go at breaking the brooch's curse.

She waits until the velvet box stops rattling and trembling to hold her hand over it, gathering stilling magic to her palm to freeze the brooch as she removes the petrified wood, forcefully lulling it into a state of dormancy. Taking a new silver chain in hand – the previous had immediately broken in three places the moment she had closed the lid – Sakura carefully loops the pin of the brooch through a link.

Tethering it once more to the reliable, unmoving petrified wood – the _only_ thing that's been consistent in its use throughout this endeavor – she grabs the Angelica root once more. The immobilizing spell will hold until the barrier is completed and Sakura inwardly decides that this will be her last attempt for the evening.

This business of hers is all trial and error. Finding out which techniques do and don't work, how long they hold, discovering which ultimately _destroy_ the item in the end and make the whole process pointless...

It can be the most time-consuming part of the job, depending on how long it takes her to pick through the layers around the objects and discover its origins and purpose. You'd think knowing what _kind_ of curse she's working with would make _breaking_ it a hundred times easier.

The Angelica root is still smoking slightly as she sets it aside and the brooch is instantly active the moment the circle is completed, tugging violently on its chain as it reaches for her.

They're _both_ frustrated, it seems, and Sakura sticks her tongue out at the cameo before she focuses on the crystal shards she has left. She settles on the raw kunzite this time, the slightly transparent gem more purple than pink compared to the elbaite, and moves onto the next step of its moon water bath as the brooch continues to pull on its chain.

She's in the middle of reciting her incantation when one of the silver links towards the middle snaps and the brooch is freed from the petrified wood, smashing against the Angelica root barrier. Frowning to herself, Sakura watches it hit the invisible force out of the corner of her eye as the kunzite begins to glow, sparks of gold appearing each time the brooch makes contact with the shield. The glow is taking a longer time to dissipate compared to the elbaite and, after about the twentieth hit, the brooch breaks through the barrier.

The ivory woman is reaching for her as it makes a beeline path for her face and aims straight at her eyes, enraged enough to want to blind its next victim, but Sakura catches the end of the remaining chain at the last moment. Snapping to a halt just inches from her face, the cameo lets out a furious, silent scream and Sakura sighs, unamused by its stunt.

With a quick glance over to watch the white glow leave the kunzite, she quickly adjusts her hold on the brooch before it can realize that it can easily pivot around to stab its pin into her arm. Hand moving too fast to see clearly, she grasps it around the edges once more and readies the kunzite shard.

The crystal pierces the ivory's breast with almost startling ease and the portrait gives one last, silent scream before stilling completely, its angry eyes closing. Sakura's grin of triumph is almost immediately replaced with a grimace of disgust as blood pours freely from the cameo's wound, cascading down in a thin, but steady stream onto her worktable.

Grumbling, Sakura sets the kunzite aside and quickly moves over to the sink in her workshop, releasing the brooch and letting it float over the sink with a bit of magic as she quickly hurries to grab an amber vial from the supply cupboard to the right. She debates between two fairly large ones for a moment before settling on the shorter, more cube-shaped one of the two and returning to the sink.

The blood continues to flow for a couple minutes and she leans against the marble countertop patiently, uncorking the vial when the blood lessens to a trickle. The brooch continues to float over the sink and, for a moment, it seems like it's all over and done with. But, only a moment later, a slimy black mass forces itself sluggishly through the cameo's wound, quickly growing to about the size of her thumb.

It looks around curiously before it seems to notice her and panics, dropping free of the brooch to attempt to make a hasty escape. But with a snap of her fingers, a bright blue glow encases the remnants of the curse and Sakura readies her amber vial with a smile.

Humming, she forces the black slug into the small bottle and quickly shoves the cork back into place, leisurely returning to her work desk. Grabbing one of her bars of black sealing wax, she melts it over the flickering candle for a few seconds before letting it drip over the spout and cork, covering it completely.

With a satisfied grin, Sakura grabs her stamp from the corner of her desk and presses her mark into a glob of wax that had dripped down one side, leaving the vial to cool in a quarantined cabinet for the rest of the evening.

"Hard part's done," She mutters aloud as she stretches her arms over her head and looks over her workshop, "Time to clean up."

Sakura eyes the few bloodstains on her desk and huffs in irritation. A quick sniff is all she needs to know it's old, rotten blood – whatever the brooch had collected from its victims – and she wastes no time in grabbing her cleaning supplies, pulling a pair of large rubber gloves on over her black cloth pair. She senses no lingering remnants of the curse in the blood and simply blots at the drips with a paper towel before finishing up with hydrogen peroxide.

Satisfied, she looks to the brooch still floating over her sink and is pleased to note that the cameo portrait has returned to a simple profile view, nothing more than a pretty piece of jewelry now. Cleaning up the sink first, she disposes of the bloody paper towels and disinfects the basin and countertop, tossing the rubber gloves into the sink, before, finally, plucking the brooch out of the air. Moving to her worktable, a separate station to the left of the sink, Sakura grabs her repair and cleaning tools and turns on the lamp, adding more light to her already fairly bright workshop.

There's fortunately nothing to repair but she does take a few minutes to clean the brooch and its pin thoroughly. After disinfecting, polishing, and removing any of the tarnish on the silver, she returns to her main crafting desk attached to the adjacent wall, setting the brooch on the clean tabletop as she collects a few supplies from her cupboards to thoroughly _cleanse_ the item.

She pairs the green moss agate mortar with her birch pestle and starts prepping her ingredients. Dropping a few fresh lavender buds into the mortar, she gradually adds rosemary, thyme, and a sage leaf as she grinds the herbs into a paste. Grabbing the Angelica root, Sakura rubs a gloved finger over the scorched end to add a few ashes on their own before simply slicing the burnt end off with her dagger and adding it to the mix.

Finally, she picks out about three imperfect pearls and grinds them into the paste, finishing off the concoction with a few drops of the moon water from the kunzite's bath. Sakura puts a small charm over the brooch to keep it from rusting before finally smearing the paste over its entirety, working the cleanser into every nook and cranny with a cotton swab while also staying careful to not prick herself on the pin, just in case.

Smiling to herself, she retrieves her shallow, silver basin and one of her storage jars of purified moon water, setting the coated brooch in the bath to rest over the next two days.

Sakura hums and finishes cleaning up, putting her supplies away and disposing of the broken chains, shattered crystals, and burnt herbs that had failed her. She salvages what she can from the remnants before grabbing a parchment tag, a length of string, and the kunzite shard. With the wooden box containing several smaller, charmed jewelry boxes tucked under her arm, she heads out of her workshop and into her living room.

It's about 4 AM now and Sakura whistles under her breath as she sets everything down on her coffee table and shuffles towards the kitchen to get some tea started. Gloves clean and the kettle on the stove, she plops down on the couch and grabs the tag, her notepad, and a pen.

On the tag, Sakura writes _Scorned Lover's Revenge – 1901_ before tapping the pen against her chin thoughtfully and adding a smaller, second title under the first of _Cheapskate Contingency Plan_. Satisfied, she sets the label aside and starts writing out a few key details on her small notepad before finishing with a list of the final ingredients and tools she'd used as she waits for the kettle to whistle. Making a mental note to sketch out a picture of the brooch when it's done with its bath, Sakura doublechecks the list and places the note with the tag and kunzite, reclining back in the couch cushions.

She's relaxing for only a couple minutes before the kettle starts to whistle and, moments later, Sakura has a mug of chamomile tea in hand as she returns to the couch. With a flick of her hand, the TV turns on and she settles back down, content with searching for something to watch for a bit.

Eventually, her gaze drifts back to the wooden box and she purses her lips in thought before sipping her tea. There's about a dozen velvet boxes inside, all holding some piece of jewelry, and she's made a fairly decent dent in the stash over the past two months. Each have a curse or some nasty enchantment over them, but she's yet to go through them all and give them more specific labels than the information she'd received when they first came into her possession, slowly making progress as she works on one item at a time.

Several of the boxes contained pieces she'd found on her own, such as the brooch, while others were ones she'd received from clients – people who either wanted to be rid of some cursed jewelry they mistakenly gotten from an antique shop or a family heirloom that they wanted cleansed. There had been contact numbers scribbled onto the tags tied around some boxes, but all of those had been dealt with already, leaving her with pieces she could take her time with.

Tapping her finger against the side of her mug, Sakura watches the wooden box in consideration for a moment before standing and slipping back into her workshop. Grabbing her obsidian seeing stone, she takes a seat on the edge of the couch and pulls the box closer. As she sips her tea, she sets the lid aside and glances over the neat rows of the boxes, skimming their tags assessingly.

Sakura picks out two boxes labeled _Ring_ (one with an additional note of _Shitty Weather_ ) and another with a tag saying _Locket - Unlucky_ , weighing them each in her free hand before putting the ring's back. Setting her tea aside, she waves her hand over the box holding a locket, lulling whatever that was inside into a dormant state before untying the white ribbon around it and setting the piece of agate under the cloth down.

Obsidian at the ready, she carefully opens the velvet box and eyes the heart-shaped locket curiously, waiting to see if it would react. When there is no movement, she holds the obsidian up and peers through it, frowning when she doesn't see any sort of aura around the locket. Intrigued, she taps a finger against the stone to make it float in front of her eye and free up a hand, fiddling with the necklace for a few moments.

Either it's a dud or the spell over it is in a deeper state of dormancy than she could force it into, Sakura decides after several minutes of investigating. Eyebrows furrowed, she runs her finger over the edge of the heart, just where it's clasped together, but makes no move to try to open it. She knows from experience that _that_ is a bad idea and, instead, she searches it once more for some sort of engraving or identifying marker on the gold.

But, it's perfectly smooth and even the chain is rather unassuming.

Well, despite the fact that it doesn't have a clasp.

Humming under her breath, Sakura carefully threads her magic around it, trying to pick through any layers of enchantment or history to figure out what's up with this locket. She doesn't get very deep before she meets resistance and she frowns to herself, attempting to stubbornly push past the barrier, only to hear a sudden _crack_.

Sakura opens her eyes to find that the handle to her mug has snapped clean off and she's left staring at it for a long moment before glaring down at the locket.

"Oh, _hell_ no," She growls under her breath as she sits up straight, "I am _not_ taking that kinda sass, you little shit."

Holding a glowing hand over the necklace, she glares down at it before closing her eyes, shoving past the resistance until she finally finds what she wants. Sakura is met with the shrouded image of a weathered sorcerer – and not a particularly kind one if the frightened aura at her back and in her chest is any hint – and the muffled sound of a cat hissing.

Words are spoken, but she can't quite understand them, and she attempts to look around, expression falling slightly at the sight of blood splatters to her left and a crumpled form. The wary aura of the being she's seeing through spikes as the sorcerer holds up his staff and Sakura reflexively throws up a protective barrier, though she knows it won't help.

She's pulled back out of the vision, passing through several more and witnessing the previous owners of the locket and truly unlucky moments in their lives, before she's back in her home. Perched on the edge of the couch cushion with the necklace sitting innocently in her open palm, Sakura peers down at it thoughtfully as she takes a mental note of what she just witnessed.

There's little warning besides a sudden flare of an angry aura before the locket suddenly lifts into the air and she just barely manages to put her knuckle to her forehead before the chain attempts to loop around her neck.

"Shit-!"

Unable to fully wrap around her throat with her arm in the way, the golden chain constricts slightly, attempting to bite into her skin. Sakura grimaces and reaches up to grasp the chain, a little startled by how easily it snaps when she yanks on it. She feels the aggressive enchantment on the chain dissipate as the broken links fall lifelessly around her, the nasty spell disposed of.

The locket itself, however, lands in her lap and she quickly focuses on peering through the obsidian at the charm. That wary aura from the vision is back, surrounding the little heart, and Sakura relaxes slightly, able to read that the true danger has passed.

She mutters a few soft, comforting words, attempting to calm whatever spirit that's trapped inside before she makes her attempt to release it and let it pass on. Holding a hand over the locket, she encases the heart in a ball of warm, green energy and tries to convince it to relax. Sakura feels a tickling sensation at the back of her neck and the brush of fur against her cheek before, suddenly, there's a soft _click_ and the locket snaps open.

She reflexively closes her eyes at the brief flash of bright light and the sudden burst of active energy escaping the locket and, when she opens them again, there's a black cat sitting on her coffee table.

It stares at her with intelligent, bright green eyes that mimic her own, tail flicking behind it, before it slowly opens its mouth and –

"No."

The cat seems a little taken aback by her interruption, its ears twitching, before it makes a second attempt at speaking – only to be met with the same response.

"Whatever you're going to offer – and I'm pretty sure I _know_ what – I'm not interested."

"But-"

" _No_."

Before it can speak again, Sakura slashes her fore and middle finger diagonally through the air and a sphere of blue, glowing magic suddenly encases the cat, momentarily reverting it back into a state of pure energy. Not allowing it even a second to fight back, she forces it back into the locket and clicks the heart shut, breathing a sigh of relief.

It's a temporary solution, but she has no desire to deal with a pesky spirit at the moment. Maybe it'll get the hint and behave.

Sakura begins gathering the broken, scattered links of the chain and locks them back in the velvet box with the locket, plopping back down on the couch with a sigh. Reaching for her damaged mug, she inspects the broken handle and inwardly hopes that the unlucky curse wouldn't prevent her from fixing it. The TV is still playing some movie idly in the background but it's just ambient noise now as she focuses on the repair.

She's about halfway through fusing the handle back onto the mug when she hears a muffled _click_ and the lid to the jewelry box pops open, much to her irritation.

The cat is back on her coffee table when she glances up, still staring at her with a calm, unblinking gaze, and Sakura sends it an unimpressed look despite her inward surprise. It was a little stronger than she'd been expecting, if it's able to escape the box.

Ignoring the cat for a moment, she focuses on fixing her mug, ready to attempt to lock it away again in a moment's notice. The cat is perfectly still for a full minute before it tries to speak again, a hiss slipping out when she waves her hand and it's suddenly floating in a sphere of magic.

"I can go all night, cat," She mutters as she looks over her repair job. "Eventually you're going to get the hint and stop trying to bother me."

The cat claws at the air, trying and failing to find purchase, and she sends it a smirk as she reaches for the locket charm again. Sakura tosses and catches the heart idly as she stands and slips into her workshop, retrieving a bit of twine that's been soaked in caraway oil. The cat has given up on trying to move inside the bubble by the time she returns, sitting upright with its legs tucked up close to its chest and gradually starting to spin backwards.

It sends her a dry look with its green gaze and she crosses her arms over her chest, feeling no sympathy for the creature.

"You're a very stubborn witch," It says, voice free of any specific tone.

"And you're in Time Out," Sakura replies dully, waving her hand again and forcing the cat back into the locket once more and snapping it shut. This time, however, she wraps the twine around the charm to keep it contained for a while longer and settles down on the couch again, tossing the locket back into its box.

That's what she gets for trying to _help_.

An hour passes quietly before she stands and returns to the kitchen to make more tea, a frustrated groan slipping out when she hears a familiar _click_ and glances over her shoulder, not surprised when she finds the cat sitting on the island countertop behind her.

" _Off_ , cat."

"At least tell me your name, witch."

"No," She says simply, attempting to shoo it away and rolling her eyes at the way the cat frowns at her slightly, making no attempt to move. Resisting the urge to pick it up and chuck it out of her kitchen, Sakura grabs another tea bag while the black cat stares at her, tail swaying slowly.

" _Look_ ," Sakura starts once she's filled the mug with hot water, leaning back against counter beside the stove. "I'm sure you're grateful or something for me releasing you, but I don't need a cat hanging around."

"Do you have a familiar, witch?"

She glares down at it, lip curling at the way it was just ignoring her. "No and I have no intention of _getting_ one."

"Every witch needs a familiar."

Sakura drags a hand down her face, groaning in irritation, and waves a hand, calling the locket from the living room and back to her. Once it's in hand, she holds it up to show the frustrating cat.

"Ok, look, I'll just destroy the locket and you're free to go. I don't know _why_ you were trapped inside it but, once it's gone, you'll have no reason to hang around." She pops it open in her free hand, glancing inside to see if there were any pictures but finding none. "I'm sure it was a very comfortable home, but any attachment you've developed to it will be pointless if it's been disposed of."

The cat simply stares at her, eyes only briefly flickering to the locket, and she deposits her mug on the countertop before planting a fist on her hip.

"Either you leave _with_ it or _without_. Or I'll find something _much less pleasant_ to stuff you into. Either way, you're not staying _here_."

It blinks slowly at her, but doesn't look away from her face, its tone unsettling empty.

"My soul is tethered to the charm."

That admittedly makes Sakura pause, a deep frown appearing as she glances to the locket in her hand. The cat is sitting next to her elbow in the next moment, but she doesn't seem startled.

"If you destroy the locket, you'll kill me," The cat says softly and she's a little disturbed by its rather nonchalant tone, resisting the urge to reach out and pet its head. Damn cat.

"And I can not leave since you now own it – own _me_."

Her eyes narrow at that, lips pursed. She had a strict rule against re-selling cursed items unless she was 100% sure they were free of any lingering, nasty side-effects.

"What if you're lying?" Sakura says after a moment, inspecting the locket again. "A little bit of digging and I can easily figure out if your soul is actually tied to it or not."

The cat tilts its head, almost curiously. "I have no reason to lie to my Mistress."

"I am _not_ your 'Mistress'!" Sakura snaps, pointing a finger at the cat as she glares at it. But it simply gives another slow blink and she lets out a frustrated sound, running a hand through her hair and dislodging her ponytail.

She has several options for what to do next, but none are particularly favorable. She could simply destroy the locket anyways and take the risk of killing an innocent, albeit _annoying_ soul – she didn't particularly want _that_ on her conscience, however. Or she could pass the locket off to some other poor sap… and take the risk of it ending up in less-than-pleasant hands or the new owner being at the mercy of a lurking curse she hadn't noticed.

Just as she _swears_ she hears the cat start to purr, Sakura quickly snatches her mug and storms out of the kitchen, dropping back onto the couch.

It's waiting there for her and she sighs, fiddling with the locket for a moment as she reluctantly accepts her current situation. Curses that like to _linger_ are the ones she hates the most.

"I _don't_ need a cat," She grumbles, narrowed eyes flickering over to it, "But I'll allow you to stay until I manage to free your soul from the locket. _Then_ you're leaving. Got it?"

The cat lays down leisurely, stretching its legs out as its back presses against her thigh, making itself comfortable before it looks up at her again. "As you wish."

Sighing, Sakura takes a few big gulps of her tea before slumping back into the cushions, cursing her crummy luck. Of _course_ she'd end up with a stowaway cat. Grateful spirits were annoying to deal with, but she _could_ deal with them. Disposing of whatever had kept them trapped in the living world usually helped them pass on, but when a soul was _tethered_ to an object – obviously through nasty magic – it makes things a little more difficult.

After laying her head back and sinking into the cushions, Sakura sets the locket aside and tries to think up a plan to get rid of her new houseguest, eyebrows furrowing when it suddenly speaks again.

"You still haven't told me your name, witch."

"Touch luck," She grumbles, rubbing at her forehead.

"My name is Sai."

"I don't _care_."

If the cat was upset by her response, he didn't give any indication. Instead, Sai simply stretched again, arching his back against her thigh before settling his chin on one of his paws. Grimacing, Sakura finds herself giving his side a quick pet despite the little voice telling her _not_ to and reluctantly decides that it wouldn't hurt to let the cat have a few days of comfortable freedom.

"...I'm Sakura," She mutters after a couple minutes of silently watching the TV and sipping her tea.

She has to hold back a smile when she hears him start to purr in response.

**: :**

At some point during the night – or, rather, early morning – Sakura eventually shuffles off to bed. Sai follows after her, much to her chagrin, but is polite enough to at least curl up on the reading chair in the corner of her bedroom rather than on her bed. Curtains drawn to block out the approaching dawn, she slips into her bathroom to wash up before dressing in some comfortable pajamas and finally returning to the bedroom.

She can feel Sai watching her, but she does her best to ignore him, eventually drifting off as she huddles under her sheets.

Sakura sleeps peacefully through the morning and awakens sometime around 1 PM, forgetting for a few blissful minutes about her new houseguest. But, when she sits up to stretch, she sees the cat curled up on her plush chair and let out a long sigh, rubbing at her face tiredly.

Sai is silent as she gets out of bed and Sakura ignores him in favor of grabbing a change of clothes for the day and shuffling into the bathroom for her morning routine. She nearly trips over the cat, some minutes later, when she emerges from the bathroom and finds him sitting just outside the door, waiting for her. Muttering a curse, she pointedly steps _over_ him and heads for the kitchen, lips pursed at the sound of his little paws following after her.

She was going to have to get used to having company.

Once in the kitchen, she gets started on making a pot of coffee, only to pause as she glances from her fridge to the cat.

"Do you..." She grimaces, rubbing the back of her neck as Sai looks up at her from his perch on the island counter. "Do you need to _eat_?"

Sai blinks, the tip of his tail flicking. "Do you intend to feed me?"

Sakura shoots him a glare, grabbing a clean mug out of her cupboard and eyeing the other dishes arranged next to her collection of mix-matched mugs.

"Don't sass me, cat. I'm attempting to be _nice._ "

She thought she heard him make a sound similar to a laugh, but she wasn't quite sure.

"I would appreciate food, yes," Sai replies after a moment and Sakura nods to herself, grabbing two bowls and a small plate. One bowl she fills with fresh water, which she sets next to him, and puts the other aside for her cereal before grabbing a can of tuna from her pantry. Not exactly the key to a healthy diet for a cat, but she didn't really have any kitty chow on hand.

Scooping a couple spoonfuls of tuna onto the plate, she sets it on the countertop as well before turning her attention to her own breakfast, her black gloves tucked into the back pocket of her pants. Sakura debates between Count Chocula and Lucky Charms for a few moments before picking the former and retrieving the carton of milk from the fridge.

Leaning against the countertop, she takes a couple bites of her cereal before pointing her spoon at Sai, expression leaving no room for argument.

"Alright, cat, we're going to lay some ground rules if you're going to be sticking around for a while."

Sai looks up from his tuna, body low and legs tucked up under him, and she continues.

"One: break any of my shit and I _will_ lock you up. And it won't be as easy as last time for you to break out."

He blinks before giving a slow nod.

"Understood, Sakura."

She's still berating herself over giving the damn cat her name, but it's too late now to take it back.

"Two: come into my workshop at your own risk." He tilts his head curiously at that and she takes another bite of cereal before explaining. "I work with a lot of cursed objects and it'll be your _own_ damn fault if you get caught in any crossfire. Got it?"

He seems interested, if the way his tail flicks is any indication.

"But, I _can_ enter your lair..?"

Sakura shrugs, turning away to pour herself a cup of coffee as it finishes. "So long as you keep Rule One and Two in mind, yes."

Sai sits up, licking his chops before he nods again.

"Anything else, Sakura?"

"No parties."

He doesn't seem to understand her joke and she sighs, rubbing her forehead. She'd have to try to date that locket and figure out how old he was.

"I'll let you know if I come up with any other rules."

She receives another blink as his reply and nods to herself, grabbing sugar and cream for her coffee. When she turns back, she finds Sai curiously inspecting her cereal, sniffing at the chocolate pieces and eyeing the marshmallows, much to her amusement.

Sakura gently pushes him away when he attempts to dip a paw into the milk. Witch familiar or not, he was still a cat.

Once she's done with breakfast, she deposits her bowl and Sai's plate in the sink but leaves his bowl of water out, silently heading into the living room and taking a moment to search through the discarded magazines on the coffee table for her cellphone. Once it's in hand, she checks her email before opening up a Frank Sinatra playlist and gathering what she'd left out last night.

Sai follows her into her workshop, almost unsurely at first, before curiously beginning to look around as Sakura turns on the lights and sets the wooden box of jewelry on one of the empty storage shelves next to her wall of bookcases. Humming to herself, she drops her phone onto her main work desk and moves to check on the amber vial in quarantine, its tag, note, and the kunzite shard in hand.

Pleased to find nothing amiss, she gives it a final once-over before grabbing the vial and a large, thick book off one of the packed bookshelves. She moves back to the desk, laying everything out with a satisfied smile, before pulling her black cloth gloves out of her pocket and tugging them on. Stepping away, Sakura carefully retrieves the silver basin holding the brooch from its spot next to the sink and places it down on the desk, calling a sheet of her nicer parchment paper, a pencil, and a spool of linen twine to her before settling on her cushioned stool.

Sakura claps and rubs her hands together, more than happy to get started with the day, and Sai hesitates before carefully hopping up onto a corner of the desk to watch her. She cuts the parchment paper into quarter pieces before she makes a quick summary of the curse breaking process and list of tools on one, setting the other three aside for later projects. Peering into the moon water bath, she sketches out a rough drawing of the brooch onto both the parchment and the notepad paper from last night.

Satisfied, she sets the original papers on top of the large book and grabs the kunzite shard, cutting a length of white twine. After folding the notecard-sized parchment in half once and wrapping it around the crystal, she carefully ties a knot around the small scroll to keep it secure before looping the label onto the string as well, the amber vial floating into the air and approaching her.

Sai is silent as he watches her tie the papers and crystal around the sealed spout of the vial, reading the tag and jumping only slightly when one of the cupboard doors on the far wall suddenly opens. With a wave of her hand, Sakura sends the bottle to join the rows of others in the cupboard, but he doesn't receive enough time to read any of the other labels.

"That was a particularly stubborn curse," Sakura mutters aloud as a mug full of various writing utensils float over from the other table in the room. She picks out a fountain pen and grabs her pencil from earlier before pulling the book closer, flipping it open to a yellow cloth page-marker.

The pages are full of different 'entries' concerning objects she's cleansed and their accompanying curses – a hefty record book, one of many.

In ink, Sakura carefully writes out the description about the brooch and its history in detail, describes her failed attempts at cleansing it, and lists off the final ingredients and process she used to defeat and break its curse, before reaching blindly for the pencil she'd laid out. It's handed to her and she mutters a quiet thanks, only seconds into starting the sketch before she blinks, suddenly realizing that a very _human_ hand had just passed the pencil to her.

Her head snaps up and she looks to her left, stumbling out of the stool and to the ground as she lets out a surprised yelp at the sight of a human man standing next to her.

She stares up at him for a long moment, eyes wide with surprise, before she realizes that the cat is conveniently missing.

The man holds out a hand to help her up and the familiar sound of his voice confirms her suspicions, her eyebrows furrowing in irritation.

"Did I startle you, Sakura?"

"No shit," She grumbles, reluctantly taking his hand and moving to her feet. Her lips purse at the way he chuckles and she brushes herself off in embarrassment, refusing to look at him. "Have you been able to do that this entire time?"

Sai nods and steps closer, to which she replies by quickly side-stepping him, righting her stool. Well, at least she doesn't have to buy cat food after all.

"I didn't think it would surprise you this much," He says and Sakura grimaces, chewing on the inside of her cheek as her expression grows more and more uncomfortable. Nose twitching, she ignores him and sits back down with a huff, expression twisting when he stands too-close next to her.

The hairs on the back of her neck are starting to rise and she tugs her gloves more firmly onto her hands as a distraction, trying to stay focused.

"Okay, new rule," Sakura says tersely when he makes no move to give her space, finally looking at him fully. He's clothed, thankfully, but she keeps her gaze fixed on his face, a little surprised by his eye color. His irises are pitch black, entirely unlike the bright green of his cat form, but the expression within is just as lacking. His black hair is more shaggy than short, but fairly straight, and his skin is almost worrying pale, though Sakura keeps her attention on his eyes.

Sai tilts his head curiously, waiting for her to continue.

"None of _this_."

He blinks, obviously confused.

"This..?"

Sakura gestures to him in general, expression tight and uncomfortable enough for him to notice. "Yes, _this_. No being human unless strictly necessary."

Sai pauses, staring at her for a long moment, before giving a small nod.

"As you wish."

She blinks and, in the next moment, the cat is in his place once more, tail flicking as he stares up at her. Visibly relaxing, Sakura lets out a breath and nods, turning her attention back to her notes with a small, "Thanks."

Sai hops back up onto the desk and curls up on one corner, out of the way but still able to watch her. Sakura finds herself reaching out to scratch behind his ears despite herself and finishes up with the latest entry in her record book, the two of them settling into a fairly comfortable silence. She glances to the original papers for reference occasionally before everything has finally been transcribed - excluding the unfinished sketch, of course.

Letting out a sigh, Sakura stretches and leans back in her stool for a moment, eventually glancing over at Sai with a thoughtful expression. Knowing he has a second, _human_ , form both complicates and simplifies things.

Well, it simplified mealtime.

But now she has _questions_ about his past. Had he been a human familiar? Or just a cat with the ability to change into a human? Could he do any other magic besides this and the 'magically appearing in one place and then another' thing?

Did she need to buy him extra _clothing_?

Sai tilts his head curiously and Sakura is quickly pulled from her thoughts, realizing in embarrassment that she'd been staring at him.

"Something on your mind, Sakura?"

She slips off of her stool and reaches back to rub between her shoulder blades, feeling stiff.

"Just wondering if I'll need to go clothes shopping soon," She mutters under her breath, closing her record book but leaving it on the desk for now. Glancing to her phone for the time, she pauses the still-playing music and gestures for Sai to follow, heading out of her workshop. She holds the door open for him before making her way towards the kitchen, deciding some tea would do her good.

It's not quite late enough for dinner and she'd rather not spoil her appetite, but she still grabs an apple and, after a moment of consideration, her bottle of supplements. She was feeling too tired for her liking.

On the island counter, Sai watches her curiously as she pops a tablet into her mouth and sets the filled kettle on the stove, her tea box already open and waiting.

"Earl Grey or Peppermint…" Sakura mumbles, thumbing through the different packages before settling on the former. Grabbing a paring knife and a bowl, she cuts the apple into slices and hesitates as she reaches to refresh the cat's water dish.

Finally addressing him, she lets out a long sigh.

"Alright, would you prefer eating and drinking in that form or the human one? I can leave out a dish or designate you a glass, your choice." It's obviously a begrudging decision on her part, letting him choose. But she's not going to force him to drink out of a bowl.

"I can remain in my feline form indefinitely, if it's more convenient," Sai answers, inwardly feeling a little flattered by her offer.

"It's not about convenience," Sakura grumbles, leaning back against the counter. "It's about… _your_ comfort."

She seems almost embarrassed to say it, glancing away and crossing her arms as she waits.

Pleasantly surprised, Sai regards her for a few moments before ducking his head slightly, almost graciously

"I would appreciate taking my meals as a human." He _knows_ she's uncomfortable with his other form - though not _why_ \- but he's grateful for her offer.

Sakura nods and retrieves a drinking glass, as well as a second bowl, from the cupboard. Depositing half of her apple slices in the second bowl, she shows him the pitcher of filtered water in the fridge before slinking off into the living room and dropping onto the couch.

She knows he's transformed when the sound of paws on her kitchen counters is replaced with footsteps on the tiled floor. Munching on her apple slices, Sakura leaves him to his business and flips idly through TV channels in search of something to kill time with.

When she hears the whistle of her kettle some minutes later, Sakura moves to stand but finds herself pausing as the shrill sound is abruptly cut off. She sits and listens as Sai pours her a mug of tea and heads towards her, the back of the couch facing the kitchen and the hum of television filling the quiet. Turning to thank him as he sets the mug on the coffee table, she finds him already in his cat form, curling up next to her on the couch.

Sakura hums thoughtfully and reaches for her tea, dunking the bag a few times as she leans back in her seat. She changes the channel again and reaches out to pat the cat's head, feeling oddly peaceful.

She supposes there are worst creatures that could temporarily inhabit her home. Perhaps she wouldn't be too quick to get rid of him.


	2. Chapter 2

Sai sits on the corner of the desk as he watches Sakura add the finishing touches of the brooch’s drawing, a red-inked pen in her hand and a collection of other pens and pencils laid out to her right. The brooch itself sits nearby as she glances to it for reference, clean and finally finished with its two day soak in moon water. She's added four drawings in total to the brooch's entry in the record book, the large tome laid open in front of her as she leans over it. 

One drawing is inked and colored and the largest of the bunch, perfectly shaded and every detail meticulously copied down as it depicts the front view of the brooch. The two under it, a side view and a drawing of the back of the brooch, are inked but not colored or shaded, yet just as detailed. Sketched out in the margins of Sakura's description of the events of the curse-breaking is a picture of the brooch with the cameo woman attempting to crawl out of her frame, a clawed hand outstretched and her expression furious. 

Sai isn't sure how long she's been drawing but she must be nearing a stopping point as there's little left to add and she'd already completed the drawing on the parchment attached to the amber vial. She hasn't spoken since she'd started and he'd been content to quietly watch her and resist his innate urge to knock one of the pens off the desk, but he finds himself wanting to fill the silence now.

"How long have you been doing this, Sakura?"

"Doing what?" She asks in return, swapping the red pen for one with white ink to add highlights to the rubies.

He is pleasantly surprised that she’d even responded and he moves to lay down on his corner of the desk, his tail draped over the edge and swaying slowly.

"Breaking curses."

She lets out a small hum and waits a moment before she replies, still not looking up from the record book.

"A while."

Sai frowns to himself at the vague answer, having hoped to learn more about her. She'd barely spoken about herself the past two days (granted, she hadn't asked much about _him_ either) and he knew very little about her life outside of her home.

"How long have you been practicing magic?" He asks, trying again.

"A while longer," Is her response and he sighs, feeling a little annoyed.

Quiet for a couple minutes, Sai crosses his paws and turns his gaze from her drawing to her face, still determined to learn more about her.

"Are you self-taught or did you have an instructor?"

That makes her pause and, as he watches her, he can tell when she stops truly looking at her work and her gaze seems to become far-off for a moment, as if she were lost in her thoughts. Sai leans forward ever so slightly, hoping to have made a breakthrough.

But Sakura seems to pull herself out of it after a moment and reaches for one of the black-ink pens.

"A bit of both."

His frown deepens and he sits up again, watching her pen a date onto the top right corner of the page. She leaves the record book open to allow the ink to dry and leans back on her stool, reaching her arms up as she stretches. As Sakura slips off the stool and heads out of her workshop, Sai hops down and follows after her, not quite finished with his questions.

"Did you attend an academy?"

Sakura stops and sighs tiredly, turning around to face the cat and planting her fists on her hips.

"Alright, what's with the round of 20 Questions?" She asks, watching Sai approach the couch and hop up onto the arm rest, obviously unperturbed by her reaction. 

"I know very little about you, Sakura." He says, green eyes that match her own staring back at her. "You've barely told me anything about your life - I don't even know your surname."

"You don't _need_ to know," She turns to head into the kitchen, grumbling to herself. Having already made the mistake of giving the damned cat her first name - and he just kept rubbing it in and _repeating_ it, the ass - she wasn't about to just hand over anything else. "We'll get along fine just as things are."

"But I _want_ to learn more about you," Sai insists, appearing on the island counter. He still had every intention in becoming her familiar and getting to know her was the first step in creating a bond.

Sai, of course, doesn't _voice_ his intentions. 

(If only she wasn't so _stubborn_.)

Sakura groans and is about to speak again when there's a sudden knock at the door, startling both of them. The cat looks to the front door just next to the living room curiously while Sakura glances at her phone with a frown, double-checking the date.

She hadn't had any visitors since he'd been released - she hadn't even _left_ the house, actually - and he couldn't deny his curiosity, eager to see what sort of company she kept.

But, much to his chagrin, Sakura turns to the fridge and shouts a dismissing, "I'm closed! Come back tomorrow!"

They both pause, however at the shouted reply from the other side of the door.

“Aw, not even for a visit from your best bud in the whole world?”

The smile that appears on Sakura’s face was unlike any expression he’d seen from her yet and Sai finds himself following her to the door, immensely intrigued. She steels her face into one of nonchalance before opening the door, cocking her hip and crossing her arms as she greets her guest.

“Alright, what did you do this time?”

Sai peeks around her legs to peer up at the brown-haired, grinning man on Sakura’s doorstep, backlit by the lit street lamps of the late evening, but quickly finds himself hissing at the sight of a large white dog at his side and scurrying back towards the couch. Sakura and the man watch in surprise as the black cat makes his way up on top of a bookcase, crouches low, flicks his tail in agitation, and stares down at them with disapproval.

“I didn’t do nothin’,” The man says, his curious gaze on Sai as Sakura steps aside to let him and the dog in. “When’d you get a cat?”

“Not technically a cat,” Sakura mumbles, closing the door and moving on towards the kitchen. “Want something to drink?”

He sends her a surprised look, head tilting as he drops down on the couch and the dog lays across his feet.

“I thought you didn’t want a familiar?” A pause, his expression thoughtful. “Just some water, thanks.”

“I don’t,” She says, her matter-of-fact tone making Sai frown and straighten up. “He’s just a cursed soul that I’m helping out.”

“Sakura,” Sai finally speaks, a little miffed by her dismissal of him. “Who is this?”

She returns with a glass and a bowl, both filled with water, in hand and passes the former to the man and places the latter next to the dog. She gives the beast an affectionate pat on the head, much to Sai’s annoyance, before answering his question.

“Sai,” Sakura addresses, looking up at him from his place on top of the bookcase. “This is Kiba and Akamaru.”

She turns to the other two and gestures up at Sai before moving to sit on the couch’s armrest, sipping from a coffee mug. “Kiba and Akamaru, this is Sai.”

‘Kiba’, who’d been looking up at Sai with a mix of surprise and amusement ever since he’d spoken, nods up at the cat with a grin and reaches down to pat the dog’s head.

“Don’t worry about Akamaru here,” He says, the dog's tail thumping happily on the floor as Sakura reaches down to pet him as well. “He looks big and scary, but he’s actually a huge softie and he’s super chill with cats.”

Sai doesn’t reply and simply stares down at them all, not budging from his spot.

Kiba shrugs and sips his water as his gaze drifts over the living room, soon landing on Sakura. "How ya been, Sak? You look good - get a haircut?"

She sends him an unimpressed look over the rim of her mug and crosses a leg over her knee, sighing but unable to hold back a small smirk. 

"We both know you never stop by unannounced _just_ to chat," Turning more towards him, she sends her mug floating over to the coffee table. "What have you brought me, Kiba?"

He laughs weakly but nods and reaches into an interior pocket of his coat to remove a small manilla envelope and a wooden box tied off with caraway oil-soaked twine.

"A body was found five days ago," Kiba explains, setting the box in her hand and opening up the envelope to pull out several photographs. He nods towards the small case, which Sakura waits to open.

"They pulled _that_ off the corpse."

" _Five days_?" She asks, placing the wooden box on her thigh and flipping through the photos when he hands them over as well. "Why'd you wait so long to bring it to me?"

From his spot on top of the bookcase, Sai can see the pictures captured in the photos and finds himself shuffling a little closer to the edge. They depict images of the crime scene - of a body shriveled and drained of both color and life. At first glance it looks like it must have been leftover from the remains of a fire but, as Sai hops down to perch on the back of the sofa, he realizes everything is still intact - from hair, long and chestnut brown, to the bony fingers, curled and clawing in pain. The skin is tight and leathery, a solid dark ashen color rather than the mottled yellows, reds, and purples of a decomposing body, that show off every bone and joint.

It looks similar to mummified remains, but there are no other signs of decay. With the skin so tight and dry, the lips and eyelids are drawn back to reveal perfect teeth and missing eyes, the sockets empty and dark. 

The strangest part of it all is that it's dressed in perfectly normal clothes - unstained, unmarred, and unassuming. Around the corpse's thin throat is a necklace, the gold chain splayed out and the small bell charm resting in the grass.

"They're _supposed_ to contact me the moment there's any suspicion of magic," Kiba answers, looking both frustrated and tired, "And this _reeks_ of it. But those damned human cops didn't call me in until _yesterday_."

Sakura quirks an eyebrow, frowning to herself and flipping through the rest of the pictures. "They're still giving you trouble? I thought the installment of the Department was supposed to make things all... _'official'._ "

She makes air quotes with one hand when she says the word and Kiba sighs and crosses his arms, Akamaru sitting up to rest his head on his knee. "They're either too stubborn to get outside help when it's obviously needed or just grossly incompetent."

"Incompetent," She mutters in affirmation, her frown deepening at the pictures.

"Either way," Kiba continues, groaning and leaning back with a stretch, "They hate having to call me in and listen to me talk about magic. The only reason they finally _did_ was because someone realized the horrible feeling of foreboding and dread that had fallen over the entire precinct was strongest in the evidence vault."

"What have they been able to find out about the victim?"

Here, Kiba's lip curls in anger and Akamaru lets out a huff, prodding his stomach with his nose.

"That's just it," He says with the barest growl, his eyes flashing golden. "They went the _complete_ opposite direction with it. Assumed it was just a corpse that had been dug up out of a cemetery and dressed up as a prank."

Sakura lets out a derisive snort, setting the photos aside finally and reaching for the box again. Sai continues to watch and listen quietly, edging closer to Sakura and keeping a safe distance from the man and dog.

"If I'd been called to the scene _right away_ , I could have told them how fucking wrong they were and a proper investigation could have actually happened," Kiba adds, finally sighing and seeming to relax as he pats Akamaru’s head.

"Where was it found anyways?" She asks, waving a hand over the box to lull anything active into a temporary sleep before finally untying the twine.

"A manor estate just outside the city," Scratching at his cheek, just below the red tattoos, Kiba watches as well. "I'm gonna head over there in the morning to meet with the guy who found the body and see if I can sniff anything else out."

Sakura nods and opens the lid, simply inspecting the golden necklace inside visually for a moment before making it float into the air. She eyes the charm curiously and makes it shake, but no sound comes from the bell and her frown returns. It's small but looks weighty - she won't touch it with herself just yet, there's no telling what sort of curses may be lingering - and the upper cap and flared bottom are etched with tiny patterns, the clapper attached to the inside hanging freely. A visual charm rather than a ringing jingle bell, it seems.

The necklace lowers back into the box and she snaps it shut, looking up at Kiba.

"I'll find out what I can and give you a call in a couple days."

He smiles tiredly and nods, moving to stand. “Sorry for droppin’ by just to dump more work on you, Sak.”

She waves offhandedly and gives Akamaru’s ear a few affection skritches when the dog moves his head into her lap.

“You can make it up to me over drinks when I’m not busy,” Sakura answers, smirking at Kiba’s laugh and slipping off the arm of the couch. She walks them both to the front door, Sai following at her heels, and, as she opens the door, the porchlight comes to life. Sai is tempted to step outside and explore, curious to see the outside of her home, but he stays at her side and holds his questions.

“Invoice me when you’re done,” Kiba says, holding up a hand when she frowns and starts to reply. “Like you said, Sak - this is all ‘official’ now. I’m not just some PI comin’ to my pal for help anymore.”

Akamaru gives a woof of agreement and Kiba leans in to give her a one-armed hug, a wet nose pressing against the back of her hand.

“You’re _gonna_ get paid.” He says matter of factly when he pulls away, grin widening when she rolls her eyes. “Whether you like it or not.”

“Fine, fine,” A small smile appears at Sakura’s lips and she waves them off. “Let me know what you find tomorrow.”

Kiba nods and waves back and the pair head out into the darkness, Sakura watching their backs for a few moments before she turns to head back inside, the door closing behind her. Tail flicking behind him, Sai looks from her to the door before finally following, watching Sakura collect the glass, bowl, and her mug.

“What was _that_ all about, Sakura?” He asks after a moment, appearing on the kitchen counter as she heads towards the sink to deposit the dishes. She glances down at him and seems to think something over for a moment before shrugging and refilling her coffee.

“Kiba is one of the only magic and supernatural investigators in the city,” She answers, adding cream and sugar to her coffee, “When he finds cursed items causing trouble on the streets, he brings them to me to get them cleansed.”

Turning, she heads back into the living room and grabs her cellphone, the photos, and the wooden box, sipping her coffee before she continues. 

“Sometimes, like with this case, he partners with the local human police and outsources the examination of magical evidence to me.” 

Sai continues to follow after her, frowning to himself and hopping up onto the desk in her workshop as she enters. Sakura sets her mug on a coaster and closes her record book, swapping it for the manilla envelope before returning it to its spot on her bookshelf. Opening the box, she grabs her obsidian seeing stone and examines the necklace again before encasing it in a sphere of blue energy and making it lift out of the wooden case, the orb hovering just an inch over her open palm.

“So long as the police weren’t _wholly_ incompetent, it should have already been checked over for fingerprints and physical evidence,” Sakura continues, unlocking her phone to open up a playlist of ambient nature sounds before moving to stand in the center of the workshop. “So, now I do my part and determine what sort of curse or spell had been cast - if any - and find out its purpose and origins.”

She glances to Sai, who sits crouched on the desk’s corner, and holds the floating necklace up a little higher. 

“It’s nearly impossible to erase a caster’s signature, but it takes some digging to find it.” A pause, a thoughtful frown on her face before she looks to him again. “Behave and don’t touch anything in the workshop while I’m out.”

Sai sits up in confusion and opens his mouth to question her but, before he can, she places her second hand over the blue orb of magic, hovering just another inch above it, and closes her eyes.

Sakura is completely still for a moment before her eyes snap open - only they’re completely white and unseeing, just barely glowing in the soft light of the room. There’s a low hum of magic in the air of the workshop and, as Sai watches, her long hair begins to lift into the air with an unseen and unfelt breeze.

It floats languidly around her, as if she were suspended in water. The only other movement from Sakura is the slow rise and fall of her chest as she breathes and Sai hops down from the desk, taking his human form as he circles her curiously.

He waves a hand in front of her eyes, careful not to touch her, and frowns when there’s no reaction. Tempted as he is to catch a lock of her pink hair around a finger, Sai pulls away and steps back.

Unsure how long she would be ‘out’, he takes a seat on the stool and waits, watching Sakura intently.

 **:** **:**

The minutes tick by into hours and there's no change from Sakura. Sai watches dutifully all the while, his concern growing as he stays sat on the stool, his elbows resting on his thighs and his fingers laced together under his chin. He considers moving to the kitchen to prepare a meal for when she 'returns', but the thought of leaving Sakura's side and _something_ happening while he's gone makes him anxious, so he stays put.

There's a sudden fuller hum of magic in the shop that pushes past the white noise it had eventually melted into and Sai startles when Sakura suddenly gasps and moves.

She blinks, those familiar green eyes returning, and her hair falls, a few locks draped over her shoulders and the rest reaching down to her waist against her spine. Her back straightens and she rolls her shoulders before her body relaxes and she reaches up to pinch the bridge of her nose, squeezing her eyes shut. The necklace is still floating in her sphere of magic as she moves towards the desk and Sai slips off of the stool, catching her arm when she stumbles slightly.

Once he’s sure she's stable, he transforms back into a cat and watches her crack an eye open to deposit the necklace back in the box before slapping the lid shut. Eyes watering, Sakura reaches up towards one of the shelves above the desk and grabs a bottle of eye drops.

Even with her magic, five hours was an awfully long time to go without blinking.

Sai's still watching her with concern as she tilts her head back to apply the drops, his voice making her turn towards him slightly.

“Sakura? What happened?”

She gives an annoyed huff and, once she seems to have collected herself, grabs her cellphone to check the time before pausing the ambient playlist and slipping it into her back pocket. Looking irritated, she begins to start searching through the various cupboards and drawers and shelves of her workshop to gather ingredients.

“Whoever hexed _that_ ,” She jabs a thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the necklace, a bundle of dried herbs in her hand, “Did _not_ want anyone to go snooping.”

“What did you find out?” Sai follows her around the room, his head tilting when she digs through a rack of smaller drawers only to step away empty-handed and frustrated.

“The chain is made of copper and was enchanted separately,” Sakura answers, searching through another set of drawers, these labeled with names he recognizes as various crystals. “It has nowhere near the same amount of safety measures and tampering wards placed over it, so I at least know what spell was used.”

She gives another irritated huff when she doesn’t seem to find what she’s looking for and deposits everything on her desk before turning, Sai following her out of the workshop and towards the kitchen. He's surprised when she opens a door next to the fridge that leads outside, having yet to see her use that exit.

“The spell simply influenced the wearer into never taking off the necklace. Typical stuff,” Sakura continues, following a path that leads from the kitchen door into the darkness of her backyard. Torn between wanting to explore the exterior of her home and wanting to find out what she’d discovered, Sai follows a few paces behind her and perks up when the path seems to lead into a garden. 

Even in the dark, he can tell its lush and well-tended, divided into different sections for herbs, edible plants and vegetables, and sweet-smelling florals. It takes up almost the entirety of the backyard, reaching out to touch the brick wall fence that surrounds her property, and four trellis archways - covered in different climbing plants - stand over the main stepping stone path. Two trellis' each are set up on either side of the large tree in the center of the garden, the path circling around its base and continuing onto the other side with the other pair of arches.

She veers off the path onto a smaller one, the earth raised up three levels like a set of stairs on either side of her, and crouches down between the rows of vegetation to collect a few fresh plants, still speaking aloud.

“It’s inactive now, but it wasn’t a particularly strong spell anyways,” Sakura picks a few sprigs of what he can identify as rosemary before moving on towards the vegetable patch and collecting a few thin, feathery tops of a rooted plant.

“And the bell?”

Sakura grimaces and stands, heading back towards the house. Her voice is short and her posture stiff when she answers.

“It’s made of brass and coated in a lead-based gold paint.”

“And..?” Sai asks, rather unsurely, as she closes the door behind him once they're both back inside.

Her lip curls in distaste and she takes her gathered herbs and plant tops back into the workshop, setting them down with the other ingredients she’d grabbed.

“That’s all I was able to discover,” She holds back her additional hiss of _‘After five damn hours’_ and moves to a different cabinet, this one containing various spellcasting instruments and tools. “I’ll need to do some more serious scrying to break through the layers and layers of barriers the original caster set up.”

Sai hops up onto the desk and sniffs at the various herbs - some dried, some fresh, and a few roots - and resists the urge to paw at the crystals.

“ _Shit_ ,” Sakura hisses in frustration, pulling his gaze back towards her. She’s knelt in front of the cabinet, the lowest drawer pulled open and a small stack of what look like mirrors - all various sizes and shapes - next to her. The topmost one is shattered and, considering the look on her face, he’s fairly certain the rest are as well.

“I thought I still had a few good ones left,” Grumbling to herself as she returns the broken mirrors to their drawer, Sakura stands and grabs a book off the wall of shelves before heading towards her desk. She nudges Sai aside and grabs a scrap of paper as she quickly opens the book to the spell she’s looking for, jotting down the list of ingredients and marking off the ones she has on hand.

Sai watches and realizes the book must be one of her own grimoires as he recognizes her handwriting. She finishes up her list before he can take a good look at the spell entry - he for sure saw the word _Scrying_ in the title - and heads out of her workshop, gesturing for Sai to follow and closing the door once he's out.

“I need to go do a little shopping to get the rest of these ingredients.”

He frowns in confusion. "At 3 in the morning?"

"The market is always open," She says aloud, tucking the list into a purse hanging by the front door before heading upstairs to her bedroom to get changed.

“Should I accompany you in this form or my human one?” Sai calls after her, waiting at the base of the staircase. Sakura pauses, halfway up, and turns to send him a stern look over her shoulder.

“You’re not coming.”

“But, Sakura-”

“ _No_.”

He sits and his tail gives an upset flick behind him. Sighing, Sakura faces forward and continues upstairs, missing the moment Sai suddenly had an idea and turns back towards the workshop door.

**: :**

Out of her loungewear and dressed in a fresh all-black outfit - high-waisted pants and a high-collared shirt with long sleeves; did she even have anything colorful in her closet anymore? - Sakura heads back downstairs to find no sign of Sai.

She grimaces and glances around the living room briefly before guessing he must be sulking. Truthfully, she felt kind of bad for saying he couldn’t come to the market with her, but she really wanted to make it a quick trip and didn't have time to look after a curious spirit.

Deciding to make it up to him and take him shopping after she's finished with this necklace, Sakura grabs her purse and one of the pieces of green chalk in the key bowl on the foyer table. She looks over the living room again for Sai before heading to the kitchen and out the door into the garden once more.

Probably not best to fly when she was still tired.

Following the stepping stones of the path, Sakura approaches the large red maple tree in the heart of her garden and tosses and catches the chalk in her hand. The leaves of the tree are already scarlet with the early fall and a few have fallen, scattered over her path as she walks forward. Stopping at the base of the old tree, she looks up at the wide trunk for a moment before leaning down to start at the bottom.

Drawing a line straight across in the green chalk, she makes a 90 degree turn when it's just wide enough for herself and continues upwards with a practiced ease before arching over and back down to where she'd started. With the outline of her door marked out, Sakura draws a handle and two sigils towards the curved top, one for Travel and one for Doorway. She wraps the chalk in a scrap of cloth before slipping it into her purse and then places her hand against the bark of the tree, palm flat over the sigils and her fingers stretched out.

Sending a burst of her magic through the chalk and tree alike, she watches as the green markings glow brightly for a moment before the door properly takes shape. She waits a moment until she pulls her hand away and tugs on her black gloves as the door finishes its manifestation, finally reaching for the now very-real silver handle and pulling it open.

Sakura steps through and onto the market street, the shops and stalls all open and bustling with activity despite the current time. The magical shopping district is lit up with different lights, some electric and some flame but all bright enough to drive away the dark of the night, and she pulls the door closed behind her.

The doorway melts and morphs back into the brick wall - one of several brick walls designated for traveling methods such as Sakura’s - and she walks forward, already knowing which shop to stop at first. She passes the pop-up stalls to get to the more permanent storefronts and turns onto a right branch of the main street to continue on for a little further, where the shops were bigger and more spaced out.

She finally finds the one she’s looking for and heads into the Yamanaka Nursery, the sight of the druid owner greeting her as she enters.

Ino, as blonde and beautiful as ever, glances up from behind the checkout counter and grins as she spots Sakura, quickly handing her satyr customer their change and purchase before waving her over. The satyr practically disappears behind the potted peace lily in their arms and Sakura holds the door open as they pass, waving back at Ino. Once she makes it to the counter, Sakura leans forward to let the blonde gently cup her face and kiss both of her cheeks, chuckling under her breath as her face tingles.

“Forehead!” Ino says as she pulls away, resting her elbows on the countertop and settling her chin on the back of her hand. “What brings you in at this hour? Out of my miracle fertilizer already?”

Shaking her head, Sakura leans against the counter as well and opens her purse. “No, I’m out of a few ingredients that I need to grab for a spell. Think you can help me out, Pig?”

“Of course! Whatcha need?” The druid looks to the door to greet a new guest and Sakura reaches into her purse for her shopping list, frowning when she doesn’t immediately feel it. She sits the bag on the counter to have a proper look inside, spotting the paper folded up on the bottom. But when she grabs it, she finds herself pausing at the sight of a familiar locket charm hiding underneath, her frown deepening.

“What the-”

“That’s strange, how did that get in there?”

Sakura’s head snaps up and to the left to see Sai standing just behind her in his human form, his eyes closed and his head tilted as he sends her an insufferable yet unnervingly empty smile. She turns to face him and crosses her arms, aware of Ino watching them behind her.

“I thought I told you to stay at the house.”

He folds his arms behind his back to stand in a very respectful position, one wrist clasped in the other hand and his black eyes on her.

“Wherever the locket goes, I must follow,” Sai says simply, acting as if it was completely out of his control despite the fact that _he'd_ been the one to slip it into her purse. She’s about to start chastising him when Ino interrupts, the blonde’s expression amused and curious.

“Oh, who _is_ your handsome friend?” She says with a grin, eyeing Sai in approval. “A new beau?”

“A _stowaway_ ,” Sakura corrects, shooting him one last annoyed look before turning back to Ino and holding out the list. “Nevermind him. Here’s what I’m looking for.”

Ino chuckles and takes the paper, pausing in the middle of unfolding it as, in one blink, Sakura’s black-haired companion suddenly disappears. She’s about to question her friend when a black cat hops up onto the counter, eyeing Sakura even as it brushes against Ino’s arm.

“I’m not a stowaway,” The cat says, not outwardly reacting despite how startled he is when the druid gasps in delight and scoops him up. He continues to stare at Sakura even as Ino holds and fawns over him, a satisfied purr thrumming in his chest. “I’m bound to the locket, after all.”

Sakura leans forward to rest an arm on the counter, reaching out to poke Sai’s pink nose. 

“I distinctly remember putting _that_ charm away.” She replies, sighing when he simply blinks at her. 

“Oh, he’s just _adorable_ , Forehead!” Ino says, giving the cat a quick smooch between his ears before setting him back down on the counter. “When did you get a familiar?”

Groaning, Sakura rubs her temples and straightens up.

“He’s _not_ my familiar,” She insists before she glances to Ino in consideration, missing Sai’s frown. “Do you want him?”

Sai’s ears lay flat against his head and his tail flicks, but Ino lets out a laugh and waves the offer off, opening up Sakura’s list. 

“Tempting, but Dad’s allergic and too many things in this shop can kill a cat.” Ino tosses her ponytail over her shoulder and reads over the ingredients she’s looking for, humming under her breath.

“Good point,” Sakura mutters before looking down at Sai and pointing a finger at him.

“You. Human form until we get back. I don’t need you testing whether a soul can get poisoned or not.”

He sends her a curious look edged with surprise but gives a dutiful nod and hops off the counter, landing in a crouch as a human and standing upright.

“As you wish, Mistress.”

Sakura sends him a sharp look but turns her attention to Ino, listening to her continue to read aloud.

“-statice, pansy, daffodil, bittersweet, hollyhock, pink topaz, and lapis lazuli.” Ino quirks an eyebrow and looks up at Sakura, her expression curious. “What color chrysanthemums?”

“White.”

Nodding, Ino steps out from behind the counter, grabs one of the wicker baskets hanging on a wall of hooks and guides Sakura out of the shop front and into the greenhouse. Neither of them notice Sai’s small frown - had she mentioned crystals? Wasn’t this a plant shop? - but he doesn’t voice his confusion.

“Scrying spell?” The druid asks as she glances back at her, amused by how Sai was following just a few paces behind the pink-haired woman.

“How’d you know?” There’s a small smirk on Sakura’s lip as she asks back, wondering which of the four additional sections of the greenhouse they’d head for first. The frontmost area was for the year-round and non-flowering plants while the four rooms towards the back, two on either side of the center path that runs the length of the greenhouse, have their own mini-climates for each of the seasons, so that the shop could provide a wide variety of flowers all year long.

“All of these either mean truth, honesty, or memory,” Ino answers as she holds the door open for the Spring room, eyeing Sakura. “Not so sure about the crystals, but I’m sure they’re the same too.”

“The hollyhocks are for ambition,” Sakura answers cheekily, earning herself a kick to the back of the calf as the blonde laughs. 

Golden lights come to life as they enter, glowing and floating around the previously-dark room and bright enough to mimic daytime, and they’re met with the sight of the incredibly organized greenhouse. Though it looks like they’ve walked into a botanical garden, complete with a dirt path and a small pond, each plant species is organized into equally-sized sections with no one type overreaching or fighting for territory. They’re all readily accessible and just a sample of what the Yamanaka family is capable of growing. 

The plants are all still asleep but Ino seems to know exactly which to stop in front of, the blue forget-me-nots blooming awake when the druid turns towards them. Pulling a pair of gardening shears out of a pocket in her apron, Ino gathers several clippings before tying the stems together with a bit of twine and placing them in the shallow basket, which she then hands to Sakura. She moves onto the pansies next and the flowers open to reveal different shades of purple, blue, and yellow.

At Sakura’s direction, she collects just purple pansies and places them in the basket once they’re tied together as well. Ino makes quick work of gathering the daffodils and guides the pair out and into the Summer room, the spring flowers bathed in darkness as they step out. Once she’s collected the purple statice, white hollyhock, and gladiolus in both colors, they head into Fall to get the white chrysanthemums.

Sai stops short at the sight of a pair of tall blobs of flowing water, slowly making their way through the greenery with care and leaving an obvious trail of moisture behind. Their arms reach out and up to dip under the leaves of a few hanging plants, their movements languid and graceful, and an active current runs through their bodies and limbs despite their mostly solid shapes.

“Oh, don’t mind those!” Ino says when she notices his reaction. “They’re just giving the plants a little late-night care!”

“They’re water elementals,” Sakura adds, a little amused by how that doesn’t seem to comfort Sai.

With the chrysanthemum blooms added to the basket, Sakura is surprised when Ino leads them into Winter.

“I just want to get you some primrose pansies too,” The druid hums, answering her question before she can even ask it. “Then we’ll get the rest.”

Sakura sends her a fond smile and, with the white variety added to her basket, Ino guides them out of the greenhouse entirely and to a door marked for employees only. Inside is another garden, but Sakura knows that all of these plants are poisonous and toxic and she grabs the back of Sai’s shirt when he starts to follow Ino inside. A stern look from her is all he needs to stay put and they watch Ino pull on a pair of disposable gloves and gather Sakura’s bittersweet nightshade.

These blooms she wraps up in a bit of fabric before adding them to the basket and she’s sure to lock the door behind her when she steps out.

“I can’t get you the nettle, unfortunately,” Ino says as she moves through the store towards an open doorway at the back. It’s dim even though the shop proper is lit up and bright and seems to lead to a set of stairs going downwards, a faint, colorful glow coming from the darkness. 

“We stopped carrying it. Despite the big ass sign, too many employees were getting handsy with it and would come complaining when they got stung.” Her voice echoed slightly as they headed downstairs, the air becoming cooler and those floating lights coming to life to help guide her. “Because, _apparently_ , if it's not belladonna or foxglove, it can’t be _that_ dangerous.”

Sakura gives a small chuckle and they enter the lower chamber, switching her hold on the basket. “No problem, it's for the cleansing part, so I don't technically need it for what I'm casting tonight.”

"More work right after shopping?" Ino asks, glancing back at her. "Don't you _ever_ take a break?"

The source of the colorful glow becomes apparent as they’re met with the sight of a cavern-like room filled with sparkling crystals and gemstones. There’s dozens of different types, some varieties with multiple colors even, and all organized fairly similarly to the flowers and plants upstairs. At first glance, it looks like a collector's bounty styled like a garden but, upon closer inspection, Sakura can tell that it _is_ a garden.

The clusters of gems sprout from green crystal stems, growing like actual flowers. They climb the walls in their little groups and cover the ceiling in places as well. Some grow from single stems, others in bunches among their own crystalline leaves, sharp-edged and glittering. The ones lining the walls sprout from vines and moss-like patches and the odd faux mushroom geode clings to the rock here and there, leaving only scattered spots of bare stone. The patches of sparkling gems and crystals glow brightly in their own colors while the more opaque and rough stones are only backlit by their stems and foliage. 

Everything in the room is made of crystal or stone, including the short earth elementals that are tending to the gem garden. The stout creatures are made of rock and clumps of hardened dirt, tiny gemstone eyes glowing like their crystal crop set into their earthen faces. Their touch is gentle, despite their blocky stone hands, as they care for the clusters and shards and their steps are relatively quick as they trudge dutifully around the room, the occasional lone stone rolling across the winding path. 

One of the five hobbles towards Ino and her guests when it spots her, giving a short bow before looking up. Ino glances at Sakura’s list once more before addressing the elemental, two more of the creatures pausing to listen.

“My friend needs three each of pink topaz and lapis lazuli,” The druid commands, smiling as the earth elemental nods and shuffles away into the garden. One of the other workers nods as well and turns to gather a few crystal blooms from a blue patch of opaque stones, plucking them from their stems and soon bringing the lapis to Ino.

It opens its mouth and tilts its head questioningly and Ino understands a moment later, turning to look at Sakura.

“Did you want anything tumbled or cut?” She asks, smiling proudly. “They’re the best little craftsmen I’ve ever seen.”

The elemental’s eyes glow brighter at the druid’s compliment, almost as if it were blushing.

“No, raw is perfect. Thank you though.” Chuckling under her breath, Sakura crouches down to let the stone creature place the lapis in her basket, the other elemental soon approaching with the topaz. She thanks the elementals and turns as Ino leads them back upstairs, thoroughly satisfied with her haul.

“Don’t be afraid to stop by for something _other_ than ingredient shopping,” The druid says as she rings up her flowers and gemstones, stealing a glance at Sai as he stands just a few steps away.

“Would you like me to invite you along next time we go out for drinks?” Sakura asks with a smirk, opening up her wallet. She gives no indication of who she means by ‘we’, but Ino obviously seems to know as she grimaces and waves off the offer.

“Dog-breath can’t hold his alcohol and he’s _disgustingly_ sentimental when he’s drunk.”

Sai is fairly certain they’re talking about that Kiba man and he frowns slightly, wondering just how close Sakura was to these two.

The two chat and laugh for a few minutes more as Ino packages everything up until, finally, Sakura is ready to go. She snatches up her purchase when she notices Sai reaching to carry them himself and she shoots him a frown, obviously still unhappy about him tagging along. Refusing to let him take the bags, she sends Ino a wave in farewell and heads for the door, sighing when he moves to open and hold the door for her.

Sakura can still hear the druid’s laughter as they walk out onto the street and she immediately turns back the way she’d come, recalling a shop in the main district that would likely have mirrors for her scrying. That should be the last thing she needs for the spell and, though she’d had every intention of getting everything over with tonight, a yawn catches her by surprise and she grumbles under her breath. Maybe Ino had a point.

She can tell the moment Sai transforms behind her by the sound of his footsteps on the cobblestone abruptly stopping, but she pays him no mind, only _slightly_ concerned with him getting trampled. If he did, it was his own damn fault.

She’s surprised, however, as she feels something hop up onto her shoulder, a soft tail wrapping around the back of her neck and tickling her jaw, and the cat barely has a moment to get comfortable before he’s encased in a familiar sphere of magic.

He hovers above her shoulder by a few inches before Sakura deposits him on the ground and narrows her eyes, her voice particularly icy.

“Do that again and you’ll be sleeping outside until further notice.”

“A soul doesn’t particularly _need_ to sleep,” Sai counters and her eyes narrow further, annoyed by the slight amusement in his tone.

“I can banish you from the house entirely, if you’d prefer that?”

Sakura smirks when his relaxed posture stiffens and his ears lay flat, obviously not fond of the idea. She continues on down the street and the cat follows close behind her, his small paws tap-tapping almost silently against the stone.

She finds the store she was looking for easily enough and is pleased with their selection of mirrors, picking out five once she’s verified that they’re fresh and unused. These Sakura _does_ , begrudgingly, allow Sai to carry when he shifts into his human form and takes the wrapped packages from the shopkeep, but only because she knows she’ll need a hand free to draw her doorway.

The pair head back onto the street and through the pop-up market, only for Sakura to pause as she spots a stall selling different types of jewelry chains. She regards the stand thoughtfully for a moment before heading towards it, Sai following curiously behind her.

The lengths of chain are sold either by inches, the full pieces wrapped around a spool for the seller to pull and collect from, or in preset sizes, clasps and locks already attached. It’s a pretty wide array of metals - silver, gold, copper, brass, iron, and so on - and, while some are already enchanted (a few select pieces of the pre-sized necklaces and bracelets), most are normal, simple chains ready for crafting.

Sakura speaks to the stall owner for a few moments and walks away with 40 inches of a thin, perfectly normal, gold chain, packaged up and slipped into her purse. She ignores Sai’s questioning look in favor of continuing her walk down the market street to the familiar brick wall, soon shifting her hold on the flowers to retrieve the cloth holding the piece of chalk.

Feeling Sai’s eyes on her as he watches curiously, Sakura draws her door once more and puts the chalk away again once she’d drawn her sigils. With her hand against the brick and a pulse of magic sent through the traveling chalk, she grabs the handle once it's formed and pushes the door open. On the other side is her garden and Sai peers through the doorway, having missed this part earlier when he’d stowed away in the locket.

Gesturing for him to go through first, Sakura waits until he’s standing on the fallen red maple leaves before joining him and shutting the door behind her, the handle turning to bark and the edges melting back into the tree. Sai rests a hand against the trunk for a moment, feeling for where the door had been, before he realizes that Sakura is already heading towards the kitchen door.

“Take the mirrors to the workshop and set them on the table with the lamp,” Sakura orders as they enter the house. She heads to a cabinet to grab a vase for the flowers and Sai nods, pausing when she speaks again.

“Leave your locket with me.”

He has to admit, he’s a little nervous about her intentions and hesitates before he gives another quick nod and leaves the kitchen. Leaving the wrappings on, he puts the mirrors into tidy stacks, the two larger ones together and the other three just next to them, before stepping back into the living room. Sakura approaches with all of her flowers set up in a vase, a few inches of fresh water at the bottom, and the paper bag containing the gemstones and wrapped bittersweet tucked under her arm.

She brushes past him and into the workshop and, as Sai turns to follow her, the door abruptly shuts in his face.

Sai stares at it for a moment, wondering if she was really _that_ upset with him for tagging along, before hesitantly giving it a polite knock.

“Sakura? May I join you?”

“No.”

He frowns and considers questioning her further, but decides it would probably be best to just not bother her right now. Sighing, Sai turns away and shifts forms before hopping onto the couch and curling up, the tip of his tail flicking every so often as he rests his chin on his crossed paws and watches the door.

It finally opens and Sakura emerges about an hour later, her long hair pulled up in a bun and her black gloves tucked into her pants’ pocket. Sai quickly sits up and, from his spot, he can see that the mirrors have been moved to her desk but are all still wrapped.

He sends her a confused look and Sakura stretches as she approaches the couch, rubbing the back of her neck as she yawns.

“Alright,” She says when she looks at him. “Human form for a minute.”

Sai hesitates a moment before he shifts forms again, startling slightly when Sakura suddenly tosses something to him. He catches it easily and opens his hand to find his locket, a new gold jump ring connecting it to the chain she’d bought earlier. 

It's only about 18 inches of the chain and has a clasp on one end and another jump ring on the other. He can feel a bit of her magic still thrumming through the metal and a quick glance through the still-open door to see jewelers tools and pliers on her worktable confirms his suspicions.

“This way you don’t have to smuggle the locket into my bags to follow me,” Sakura says as she crosses her arms and leans against the sofa. Sai thinks for a moment that she means to wear his locket herself and he hopes that she’s _finally_ taken his offer to be her familiar, but then she continues.

“Try it on and make sure it fits right.” She nods down at the necklace, dashing his hopes. “If it’s too tight I can add more links, but it needs to be short enough to not slip over your head.”

His disappointment doesn’t make it to his face and Sai simply sends her an empty smile and nods. But he struggles with the small clasp for a few moments and Sakura sighs, taking the necklace and tapping his back to make him scoot forward as she moves behind him.

“It’s nothing too special,” She explains as she places the chain around his neck and holds open the clasp with her thumb nail. “Just a charm to keep the locket from falling off, something to match your transformations, and an anti-tampering ward.”

Sakura steps back once it's connected properly, the metal feeling comfortably warm against his pale skin rather than cold like he’d been expecting.

“Only you or myself can remove it,” Her green gaze looks over the chain as she stops in front of him again before her expression softens just slightly. “How's it feel, Sai?”

He’s certain she can’t hear his purr even as it thrums softly in his chest at the sound of her saying his name and he feels at the necklace for a moment, centering the locket before he looks up at her with a slightly more genuine smile.

“It fits perfectly. Thank you, Sakura.”

She waves his thanks off and nods, gesturing with her chin. “Go on, cat form again. Gotta make sure the spell works right.”

Sai hums before he shifts, expecting to feel the chain links catch on the fur of his neck, but is surprised when it doesn’t. The necklace shrinks to match his smaller size and, while it still holds the same weight, it doesn’t _move_ like a chain. Had he been able to see his reflection, he would have seen that the necklace had taken the form of a normal cat collar, the locket charm the only unchanged part.

“A cat wearing a chain would look odd,” Sakura explains before yawning again. She checks the time on her phone while Sai bats a curious paw at the charm before she sighs and starts to head upstairs.

“I’m going to take a nap before I do my scrying,” She mutters, knowing the flowers would stay open and fresh for several days thanks to Ino’s touch. “Try not to wake me.”

Sai hops up onto the top of the back of the couch and watches her as he sits, wanting to follow her but deciding to give Sakura some space as thanks. Perhaps he’d take this time to finally do some exploring.

“Rest well,” He calls, a pleased purr settling in his chest when she returns the sentiment and leaves his line of sight. Sai listens to her footsteps as she wanders around on the second floor for a few minutes before she finally crawls into bed and the house falls silent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter two! hope you enjoyed! i cant remember the last time i ever updated a fic in the same month i posted it lol

**Author's Note:**

> haven't updated anything in forever yet here I am posting a new fic (possibly 2 more new fics as well if all goes well)
> 
> theres a naruto fantasy week happening on tumblr and 3 of the prompts fit my 3 new fics perfectly so I managed to finish this, which has been a wip for almost 2 years
> 
> this is for the day 1 prompt: Witches & Familiars | Soul Bonds
> 
> hope you enjoyed!


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